In My Hands
by Dreams of Shadows
Summary: First in JA series.For some reason the Tesseract brought me into this world, and now my only hope of getting back is to convince the Avengers that I'm telling the truth before my only means of getting home is taken back to Asgard. No pressure right?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I've decided to go over this fanfic again, making what I hope are improvements here and there. I'm also now leaving Author's Notes on each chapter so you know which ones have been and have yet to be rewritten. Enjoy, and don't forget to R&R. :)**

It had started out as just another boring Friday for me- I mean Fridays are great, don't get be wrong. But for me that is the one day of the week when absolutely nothing at all happens. I normally just check and reply to my Emails, try to get rid of that annoying writers block which has been bugging me all week and catching up on any TV shows I've missed. But as I said, this is all boring stuff and I'm sure you didn't come here to read about my average day. You probably came to read about the time my life went crazy, when I began to live a life which most people can only dream of and when I foolishly decided to touch a portal.

In my defense it was very mesmerizing.

Basically, I was doing these very boring things when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something that immediately captured my attention. It could only be described as a kind of bath bomb effect, with an orb of blue energy which seemed to 'fizz' and expand until it formed a large circular shape. Shimmering like blue fire, it seemed to shift and move whilst all the time the faint image of a dull room was shown in it. The sort of room you might find in a fancy building with a long table and many chairs surrounding it. There didn't appear to be anyone in there, which was just as well because I didn't fancy having any intruders.

A small part of my mind likened it to the portals of Avengers Assemble- the ones created by the Tesseract and I jokingly wondered if that was a S.H.I.E.L.D. room I was looking at. Curiosity compelled me to approach it, the shock at having it appear outweighing the fear which told me to get the hell away from i and I slowly but surely shuffled over to it. There was still no-one on the other side, but I kept an eye out as I raised my hand and reached slowly towards it. One lash of energy reached out and coiled around my hand, making my hand tingle with its energy and darting across my skin with a sort of playfulness. My fear subsided slightly with the affirmation that it was not dangerous, but I was still cautious about having something that should technically not exist appearing in my room.

I stood there for a moment and allowed the energy to dart across my hand before pulling it back- or at least attempting to, because to my dismay and horror I found that my hand was stuck. Instead of allowing me to take my hand back it instead began to pull me into it, each tendril reaching further up my arm and dragging me inwards inch by painful inch. My heart was racing as I tried desperately to pull away, unable to grasp the tendrils in order to pull them off and steadily losing ground. I knew that I couldn't do anything to fight it but that didn't stop me and I continued to struggle even as the tendrils reached my body and the energy covered me completely. For a few moments I couldn't breath and was given the impression that this was what Space felt like- cold, empty- and then I was through the other side of it and in the very room I had been looking at moments before.

A flash of red and black was the last thing I saw before there was a sudden pain in the back of my head and as suddenly as the room had appeared it had disappeared along with my consciousness.

* * *

I awoke to the steady pounding sensation in my skull, accompanied with pain and nausea- and this was before Id had chance to open my eyes. Was it a hangover? Had I imagined that whole portal thing? Opening my eyes I quickly came to realize that this was in fact not the case. That the smooth, metal roof was definitely nothing like my own, yellowing roof and I bolted upright. Probably not the best move I realized as the room began to swirl and a strong wave of nausea overcame me. When my vision had cleared enough, I began to study the room properly; it looked like a that metal room, but I couldn't -thankfully- smell it much, there was a single door with no handles, the single bed I was sitting on which was nothing more than a piece of metal welded to the wall with an inches thick mattress on and a thin sheet to cover, and to my right I could see the sunlight streaming through the window. The light stung my eyes, but I glanced out to see nothing but an endless expanse of water.

I was at sea.

"Holy crap," I managed to say, my throat stinging, I subconsciously brought my hand up to rub it as I continued to gaze out with a sudden sense of smallness. I was at sea. I had gone through a portal and was now being held captive by Space Age pirates or something . Just what the hell had happened exactly? "Holy crap I am in so much trouble."

As if to confirm that, a fresh wave of pain arrived and reminded me that there was someone who was going to have to pay for braining me. Unless they were extremely strong or scary, in which case they could go on without the fear of my terrifying wrath. But first things first I needed to know some things, such as my location and who it was whose... ship I had appeared on. Looking around I spotted something that I hadn't seen before, a black dome on the roof which looked suspiciously like it might be a camera. Did that mean there was someone on there way here right now? I didn't know whether to be pleased or scared and settled for a mixture of both. If I could just explain what had happened then maybe they would let me go. Yeah right. All I could hope for was that they spoke English.

I held my breath as I saw the door slide open, readying myself for whoever might come through the door and mentally steeling myself so I wouldn't look weak in front of them. However, whatever I had been expecting was nothing compared to what I actually got and once again I was met with something not entirely believable.

"I'm going to need you to come with me," said Agent Phil Coulson.

Okay, logic entailed that this was not Agent Phil Coulson, but in fact the actor who played him, who was standing before me. But logic couldn't explain the portal I'd been sucked through, why I was on what I could only guess was the Helicarrier- and I doubted they actually built it for the film- and why he was so calm with my entrance. I mean actor or not you wouldn't remain calm and 'in role' when a portal appears out of nowhere. So apparently it had seemed like I had ended up in the fictional world of one of my favourite films- what fun.

"Is there a problem, miss?" he asked, looking for all the world like he just some friendly guy and was never going to blast Loki with that fire gun thing- which had been rightly named 'Coulson's Revenge' on _Marvel's Avengers Alliance_.

"No problem," I replied, clearing my throat to make sure I didn't sound stupid and proceeded to stand up to follow Agent Coulson- who probably wasn't alone. He had seemed surprised by my accent, which I hoped wouldn't land this Britain in trouble and land me in the middle of a war- because that would've been a slight problem.

As I left the room I saw that I had been right, two other men stood behind us as we made our way through a corridor which was also made of that weird metal and had the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo imprinted on most walls, seemingly in case someone had forgot whose ship they were on. Occasionally other agents would walk past us, but none of them spared me a single glance as they went about their business; and I think that freaked me out more than if they had been looking at me. It made me feel like I was walking to my execution, and knowing these people it wasn't entirely impossible that it was going to happen. All I could hope do is convince the person I was going to see (And I had a feeling I knew who that would be) the truth about what had happened and pray to whatever deities were out there- Loki included- that I would be believed and not subjected to death or torture.

After numerous lefts, rights and even an elevator or two, we finally arrived at what was probably the destination and I gulped nervously as I was led into a room that looked very familiar, a room with only a table and some chairs- and I don't mean a dining room. Coulson indicated for me to take a seat, before exiting with the guards and leaving me alone once again. I sat down on one of the metal chairs, trying not to look like I was guilty of anything and remain calm and cool. All I could do was wait for whoever was going to come through the other door and hope things didn't take a bad turn- well, too much of a bad turn.

Again there was a noise as the door opened- a kind of spaceship door type noise- and I looked up as yet another familiar face entered the room, this one not looking so happy. Nick Fury's face was set in a stern look as he took a seat opposite me, which sent shivers down my spine and made me mentally panic. All I could hope was that the realization that there was life on other planets could help him believe that I was from a different universe entirely- but I wouldn't hold my breath.

"I'm Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.- do you know what that is?" he asked, as though he expected me too- probably thought I was a spy, which was not good news.

"The something, homeland intervention, something and logistics division," I replied truthfully, believing it not to be the best idea not to lie to THE spy, even if he didn't believe me- though that kind of didn't make sense. Even if the fact I had some idea who they were was bad, seeing as a lot of characters in the films had no idea who they were.

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," he corrected, eyes- whoops, eye- narrowing in what I hoped wasn't suspicion but probably was. "Now why don't you tell me who you are and who you're working for."

"I'm Jessica Attwater, and I work for no-one." Hmm, that kind of made me sound like a mercenary and judging from Fury's expression he thought so too. I ran a hand through my hair, come on- I'd seen this guy in films, surely I could find a way to convince him of that. "Why am I here?"

"You were somehow able to use the Tesseract, despite it currently being in our possession to break onto the Helicarrier-" He began.

"I didn't use the Tesseract, a portal just showed up randomly at my house," I interrupted, which in retrospect was not the best idea in the world. "I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm here- this isn't possible."

"Well you can't claim to be innocent when you quite clearly know what the Tesseract is," pointed out the man. "Unless you're from Asgard."

"I'm not from Asgard," I replied coolly, trying not to let my frustration show- we'd only been doing this for about a minute or so and I was already annoyed. But you couldn't blame me given the circumstances. "I'm from Earth."

"If you're from Earth then explain why is there no record of your existence until now?" He glared at me and I tried hard to summon up my courage- this guy was way scary. "All of our searches claim that you don't exist-"

"I'm from a different Earth," I interrupted again, making sure to look him straight in the eye as I said this. "And on my Earth- you aren't real. Or at least, you- as Nick Fury- aren't real."

"So what am I on your Earth?" he asked, the way he said it making it clear he didn't believe me and was probably going to lock me in my room with a straitjacket on- and I though these kinds of people are able to tell when someone's lying or not.

"A fictional character," I replied, continuing before he could tell me what a load of bull I was spouting. "Director of SHIELD, you have a project called Avengers Initiative that you scrapped which-"

"How do you know this?" he asked coldly, his turn to interrupt.

"I told you, you're-"

"If you're going to play games with me Miss Attwater then I can assure you that I will keep you locked up here for a very long time." He wasn't kidding, and I began to feel scared as I realized that there was no way this was going to end good- not unless I told him something that was going to happen in the film, which hopefully hadn't happened yet. But before I could open my mouth to explain, he had left the room and seconds later Coulson came back in with that still smiling face to escort me back to my room. Had he been listening in on my conversation/ interrogation with Fury? There were probably people in some other room just laughing at me right now and in response I felt the fear replaced by anger.

So this was how it was going to be? Me, prisoner to SHIELD and probably doomed to spend the rest of existence locked up unless I confess that the truth was a lie and make up a load of lies which were actually the truth and then somehow convince Nick Fury that it's the truth.

Yeah, I'm screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter two now redone, several mistakes removed which made me embarrassed no-one told me I called Fury a 'her' *facepalm* I must have not been paying much attention when I first wrote this.**

Since that first brief- and intimidating- meeting with Fury, I'd been called into that room several times and questioned on the same matter. Who was I, who was I working for, what was my purpose in coming here- the usual assortment of questions. Most of the time it was Fury, sometimes Coulson would be involved in the standard 'good cop, bad cop' routine, sometimes it was Coulson on his own (And he could be quite intimidating as well as it turned out) and once I'd even had Agent Hill sit in, whom I'd taken an immediate disliking too. Not to say that I liked her in the film. Speaking of film, I was surprised at how easily I'd excepted and was dealing with the fact that I had gone through a portal and ended up in the _Avengers Assemble_ movie. I would have doubted my own sanity were it not for the tests I'd gone through to determine that already.

The next time I was called out to the interrogation room, i was surprised to see that the one who would be questioning me was none other than Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye. My inner fangirl was pleased by this whilst the more fearful part of my mind hoped i didn't end up pinned to a target. It would also be a chance to see how he actually is in this world seeing as for most of the time in the film he was a mindless zombie, that and my inner fangirl wanted to compare him to comic Hawkeye.

"So we're a movie where you come from," he said, more of a statement than a question and more than enough to throw me off completely. "What's it about?"

My first thought was _does he really believe me? _Quickly followed by _they're trying to find out how much I know and then off me_. Plus why had they even sent him in here in the first place? He didn't seem like the interrogating type. My guess was that he was here to cure his boredom or something, questioning the crazy girl who thought she lived in a movie. There was no way that anyone on this floating scrapheap believed a single word I said, as evidenced by the fact they were still continuously questioning me and had yet to mention anything about letting me go

"It's a collection of films," I replied cautiously, watching him for any signs that he was just doing this to amuse himself and embarrass me- which wasn't that hard, trust me. I avoided mentioning that they were also comic book characters just to avoid even more difficulty and because I wasn't sure if I had mentioned that before."Why do you want to know?"

"Curious," he said simply, shrugging slightly and leaning back on his chair in a way that would be more suited to a meeting of friends at a café or something. This was less like an interrogation and more like a friendly chat than anything else. "I'm going to guess Tony Stark has his own move."

"Yes, and Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers." He didn't seem bothered by the fact I knew their names, and I guessed that was because I'd already mentioned I knew about the Avengers Initiative. "Then there's Avengers Assemble- the latest film."

"And what happens in this film?"

"I can't tell you," I replied immediately, and he raised an eyebrow. "It hasn't happened yet."

"And how do you know that?" He seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, even though he most likely still didn't believe a word I was saying.

I thought about it, because I couldn't tell him that was because Coulson was still alive and that was even though I didn't want him to die. There were numerous things I could tell them, but they all boiled down to one fact and even that I wasn't sure to tell Thinking about it, I decided that is was the closest event to the start and they probably wouldn't be able to change it without details which I would not give;

"You still have the Tesseract."

That definitely caught his attention and he leant forward on his chair now a more serious subject had arisen.

"It gets taken?" he asked, and I nodded. "By who?"

There I hesitated- I couldn't very well tell him that Loki was going to come marching into town and steal their glow cube, which meant I also couldn't tell him they'd get it back but then Thor would take it back with him to Asgard. Especially since if I told him then Loki would find out when he made Barton his 'slave' and that would mean that this could take a turn for the worse. So the options were either I didn't tell him, which wouldn't change anything and probably land me in a nuthouse or tell him and risk Loki finding out and then changing things so he would come out on top. To be honest though neither option seemed pleasant, especially as the former also carried the risk of me being offed and that made the latter all the more appealing. I mean I could tell them of Loki's arrival and have Barton kept away so he wouldn't turn, but who was to say they'd believe me? As far as they were concerned I was loco, and a possible enemy. What I told them could be a trap, so they wouldn't take any chances- and there was a chance that even if they did believe me that I couldn't change anything, although I'd probably never find that out.

"I can't really tell you," I replied hesitantly and he sat back in his chair with a hard look on his face. To be honest it was kind of hard not to confess just there and then, but Barton was a security risk and even though I wasn't with these guys I sure as hell wasn't going to let them blame me when Loki took over the world. "Besides you don't actually believe me."

"No, I don't," he agreed. "But your ideas are certainly quite interesting."

"So is talking to me your version of daytime television?" I asked, slightly sarcastically and congratulating myself at not flinching at the resumed hard look. "So if you don't believe me then do you think I'm crazy?"

"Maybe," he said vaguely, which didn't console me at all.

"Do you normally have your enemies coming up with such lies?" I questioned, trying to hint that if I was going to lie then this was a bit too extreme a lie and obviously so fake- which is why they didn't believe me of course.

"No- but then again we've never had a situation like this," he pointed out, and I guessed he meant random person appearing via Tesseract- well he didn't have long until it happened again. Then he could play slave to the drama queen Loki, only to be saved by getting hit on the head by Romanoff and then show off his awesome skills when fighting the Chitauri. I mean I wish I could hit something without looking, but generally the only times that happens is by accident and leaves me embarrassed rather than proud. "But until we figure out how you got the Tesseract to send you here we can't exclude the idea that you might actually be a threat to this country."

He said that like it was the stupidest idea in the world- which was true but also hurt and made me want to hand him over to the Sheriff of Nottingham.

"Why? Do I look like some kind of super genius who knows how to work your magic cube?" I asked, trying to phrase it in a way that didn't indicate that I was an idiot but still pointed out the fact that I had no idea how to work that thing- not that they'd believe me. "What do I have to do to make you guys believe me?"

"Well you could tell us something that's going to happen, and if it does come true we might then give your answers some credibility," replied Barton, and I considered what I could actually tell them- it would have to be something soon if I wanted a chance of going home. But it would also have to be something that I couldn't possibly know about- by their standards- and something that Loki couldn't use.

"Someone else is going to come through, willingly though and he will actually be a threat," I said as I figured it out, hoping that this wouldn't lead to Loki's immediate capture- not that I'd complain, but the Chitauri were something to worry about and I had no idea what that army would do if that happened.

"And who is this someone?" asked Barton, predictably.

"I can't tell you," I replied, hoping my face didn't read 'I'm allied with said someone' and instead something more positive. "Not to you at least."

Now even if they did believe I was allied with Loki, they couldn't expect me to know that Barton was going to be turned over to the dark side and turn from Robin Hood to Storm Shadow. It was probably the only time I would have a chance to prove to them that i was not a total nutjob and was in fact telling the truth.

* * *

"So what do you reckon that was about?" asked Barton as he and Fury watched through the tapes. "Is she trying to turn us against one another?"

"I don't think there's any point in trying to figure out what's going on in her head," the Director replied, frowning as he studied her body language- she seemed to believe what she was saying, even if no-one else did. He would have just called her crazy and had done with it were it not for the psych evaluation. "We can't believe anything she says even if she does- the only reason we haven't carted her off to an insane asylum is because we don't know how or why she's here."

"And there's a chance that if this is true she could hold some valuable information," guessed the archer and Fury turned to him with a stern look on his face.

"A lot of strange things have happened in this world, but they at least can be made sense of," he said. "But if you're trying to get me to believe that there is another world out there were we are fictional characters to whom our future is known then that is asking me too much. Fictional works are just that- fictional, and until Darth Vader shows up in his Death Star I will continue to believe that this girl is insane."

He paused for a moment before sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I'm going to transfer you along with Coulson," he finally said. "Keep a close eye on the Tesseract and make sure no-one else comes through."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And here's another chapter updated for you, done with much annoyance thanks to my Shift button acting up. Anyway, enjoy. :)**

When it was back to the good old pirate captain interrogating me, I didn't pay much attention to the fact that Hawkeye wasn't around. Especially given as that was probably one of the exceedingly few times I would ever get to meet him and hadn't exactly imagined him hanging around the corridors. He was an agent and no doubt had better things to do with his time, training, missions and whatnot. It never occurred to me though that he might actually be on the very mission that was at the very start of this whole fiasco. That soon the Avengers would be called here, then Loki would be brought back as prisoner until he 'eventually' broke loose and a whole deal of fighting went on. It never even occurred to me when Fury was called out of one interrogation session and proceeded to leave me alone for the next few days.

So I was forced to spend my time occupying myself with other things, but time dragged by slowly- painfully slowly- and I began to wonder if I was ever going to get home. I mean this seemed like it would be quote unquote fun at first, but I'd spent plenty of time under watch and was beginning to feel the fear rise up inside me once more. so I did all i could to keep my mind distracted from all the... other thoughts that threatened to upset me.

The thing I found to occupy my time with, was singing, it became sort of a game to see if I knew songs as well as I actually did which was somewhat pointless because if I got the lyrics wrong then I wouldn't know. It wasn't the only thing that I did obviously, but there was not much else to do and sometimes- bizarrely- the silence was deafening. Entertaining whoever was keeping an eye on me, my current stream of songs were all in foreign languages- one just to worry them, and two because I was very proud that I knew the lyrics- I spent ages learning the lyrics for one song, the only English song that had taken that long was _Technologic_.

Wisely enough I shut up when the door opened, expecting Coulson but instead receiving a Fury. My mind began to race with ideas of why he could be here, it couldn't be an interrogation because it was always Coulson or some random agent who collected me. He stood in the center of the room, not saying anything until the door had slid shut behind him.

"I'm here to inform you that you're predictions came true," he began, not looking happy about admitting this. "I had been informed that the Tesseract was acting up and as such was there to witness the arrival of the hostile who managed to convert several of our own- including Barton. I'm assuming you know the name of the hostile?"

"Loki," I replied, wondering if this was a chance to prove that I was not the bad guy and was- if on any side- on theirs. "So what does this mean for me?"

"We are still not willing to believe your story so you will not be set free as of yet." That was promising, it means I might actually be able to get free and go home. Of course it could also just mean the same thing as when a parent tells you 'maybe',which pretty much always means no. "However, if you can provide accurate and viable information then we will be willing to believe that you are not with the hostile, in which case you will be allowed to leave here alive."

Of course, I only get to walk free if I tell them what happens in the film and that's only if things play out as in the film because if I give them information that is a bit too accurate they might try to change it. Maybe not that bad, but who knew because it could just end up changing the overall outcome for the worst.

"Also, as of know you have permission to leave your room- but not the ship." With that he turned around and marched out of the room- it would have looked more impressive with a swish of his cape style coat. "We are placing a lot of trust in you Miss Attwater- don't let us be wrong to do so."

I promptly sat up and swiveled around as the door shut behind him- I could leave this room? Score! And if Fury was back in charge of the Queen Anne's Revenge then perhaps that meant the Rogers and Banner were on the ship as well- which also meant that we should be in the air. I turned to look out of the window, feeling surprised as it was revealed we were up in the air- still nothing but sea to see though.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, so that's what all the commotion was earlier- I knew I should looked, but after a couple of hours I had got bored of the view (I had actually been trying to spot some variety of marine life) and had vowed not to look again. . But that wasn't important now because it meant Banner and Rogers were on the ship, anf was I seriously going to play stalker so that I could get a chance to meet them outside an interrogation room?

Yes, yes I was.

I mean come on, their being here on the ship wasn't going to last that long- in fact Rogers was probably already on his way to Germany since it probably didn't happen that long after he arrived- a couple of hours perhaps. So that also probably meant Banner was in his lab, wherever that was, and this was probably my only chance to get him on my side. If I could do that then I might have a better chance of getting back since convincing Fury would require hard evidence- which I could actually give, but probably wasn't the best idea- and Banner didn't seem like such a bad guy.

Ambling slowly over to the door as though I expected it to get up and walk off, I suppressed a grin as it slid open and I was free to walk out into the corridor. Looking either way I saw the usual few agents walking up and down, paying no attention to me whatsoever and filling me with confidence as I set off. I took to the right, seeing as the left was where I had been taken so many times to the 'interrogation chamber' and hoped to god this wasn't some kind of trick.

It wasn't the most interesting thing I had ever done and was more like walking down a glorified corridor than anything else, windows not occurring very often and when they did showing nothing more than either empty rooms or agents at their computers. No-one who walked past me even glanced at me, so I felt like I was invisible and had an urge to start making 'woo'ing noises and moving stuff.

"If you're listening to this then can you at least direct me to somewhere with entertainment value," I said, hoping that there were camera stalking me and would have someone watching who would direct me to… somewhere. "Otherwise I'm going to do something drastic."

"Like what?" asked an amused voice, and I nearly jumped out of my skin as Coulson appeared from a hidden elevator. I opened my mouth to speak and then froze as the one and only Captain America- holy crap. He was so much better looking in real life but being near him you could really notice the way he carried himself like a military man and appreciate the spangliness of his outfit.

"Something to be decided at a later date," I replied, my mouth working on whilst my brain was stuck as it stared- my eyes weren't looking though- at the original Mr Whippy. "But definitely something drastic."

"So you have no idea," finished Coulson, who seemed much happier- not that it was hard to with his idol standing next to him.

"I believe in making up plans as I go along," I said, shuffling slightly and glancing at Rogers as I wondered if they'd told him the truth about me.

"With all due respect ma'am that's a good way to get people killed," he pointed out, the same polite person he was whilst I was mentally saying _ma'am? How old do I look?_ And trying not to go all Coulson-y on him. "I believe it's a better choice to have a plan and not need it than not have a plan and need one."

I could have sworn I heard something like that on Alien Vs Predator- let it be noted that I will forever be an Alien fan.

"This is the woman we were telling you about- Miss Jessica Attwater," Coulson conformed for the man, indicating to me as though there were some other woman in the corridor and then smiling kindly at me again. "I'm going to guess you already know who this is."

"Steve Rogers, Captain America, the worlds original Mr Nice Guy," I replied, ignoring the raised eyebrow from Mr Whippy.

"'Mr Nice Guy'?" he repeated and I offered a shrug.

"You're nice, and you're a guy- what more is there to say?" Looking at Coulson I noticed seemed to have gone up a few notches in his book with my liking of his idol- he'd be very disappointed to find out I was more of an Iron Man girl. As they say; I'm a female so Fe= Iron, male= man, so that solves itself.

I had a feeling if I told that to Black Widow I'd end up dead, dying or in a psych ward. Especially considering that to be that obsessed with Tony in this world most likely meant you wanted to- or did- sleep with him... for girls anyway. Not that I'm saying guys don't fantasize about sleeping with him... or do... It wouldn't surprise me.

"Well we'd best continue on- we need to prepare," Coulson said, which obviously meant that he- meaning Captain Icicle- was going on to Germany, which also meant soon the whole gang would be here. "Banner would like to meet you."

"Huh?" That was unexpected news- and here I thought everyone would want to avoid little crazy old me, I was going to use it as a chance to redecorate the Helicarrier with fairy lights.

"Dr Banner, he's very interested in meeting you," explained Agent- it would be awesome if his first name was actually that. "You'll find his lab just down that hallway."

He pointed down the way I had just come from, and I mentally smacked myself- I was seriously losing my observational skills here. I turned back around to thank him, but they were both already gone and so with a shrug I headed to the labs, hoping that I wouldn't miss it… again.


	4. Chapter 4

I had been contemplating how I should introduce myself to the one-and-only (as he would be to me) Bruce Banner. Standing outside the door, wondering if I should go for the Tony-esque way to say it or just a plain simple 'hi' when the door slid open and the newly-revealed Bruce raised his head to look at me questioningly.

I decided upon the latter.

"Hi," I said, and he replied with the same. "You wanted to see me?"

"You must be Miss Attwater," he guessed, a smile appearing on his face as he abandoned the thingamajig he was working on and walked over to shake my hand. "Fury's told us all about you."

"And I though secrets were his speciality," I muttered under my breath. Bruce chuckled, his gaze sliding off to the side and when I tried to look at what he was looking at I spotted a needle.

Hell no.

"He also told us that you predicted what was going to happen," he continued and I mentally rolled my eyes. If Fury told him everything then of course he told them that. But I bet he didn't tell them my favourite colour. "If you don't mind me saying so I find that quite interesting, as well as your supposed backstory. I was wondering if you would perhaps give me permission to obtain some blood samples?"

"For what?" I asked, curiously, then interrupted him as he opened his mouth to reply. "Never mind, I probably wouldn't understand. But I am sure you can understand when I say that I am not a fan of being poked with sharp, pointy things."

"Neither am I," replied Banner, walking back over to his… machine thing which seemed to be holding a lot of test tubes at different levels and angles, each filled with different colour liquids. "I would hesitate to say that anyone appreciates being poked with needles, others are probably just better at handling it than us."

"What about sadists and masochists? Or sadomasochists?" I pointed out, feeling somewhat happy about the use of the word 'us'.

Wow, I must be a real fangirl.

He decided to ignore me on that, checking on each of the different test tubes and going into 'I'm ignoring you' mode. This obviously meant he didn't actually want to see me, he just wanted a sample of the crazy girls blood because it could prove to be very interesting- scientists.

To be honest I had been expecting something more from him, like a detailed survey of my world and its similarities and differences to his own- aside form the main one, obviously. Rogers I would have expected a kind of ' polite on the outside, thinks she's crazy on the inside' kind of thing, Thor would probably be more open to it- not the fictional part though- Stark would openly think I'm crazy, Barton I'd already met and Romanoff I couldn't care less about.

So overall that would be no-one on my side and one person dropping off my favourite characters list- actually make that two, Loki isn't an ideal role model.

"So is that all you wanted?" I asked, when it became apparent he had nothing else to say- the guy must have zero social skills or something.

He looked up from his machine, a small nod giving me my answer and so I turned around to leave.

"You said we're fictional where you come from, right?" I turned back to face the doctor.

"Yeah," I confirmed, waiting to see what he wanted.

"I guess the other guy is a lot more popular there," he said, and I nodded- you didn't see people here dressed like the Hulk. "I'm guessing a lot of them prefer the other guy over me."

"Probably," I replied truthfully and he nodded slowly. "Truthfully though I prefer you over the other guy."

"Why's that?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I suppose because I like my heroes intelligent rather than just big muscle-y guys who smash stuff," I replied. "I mean Sherlock Holmes is the most well known literary character but he didn't get that way by smashing stuff."

Ha- what an image.

He seemed happy with that, though whether he actually believed in my background was unapparent- but I knew which answer I'd put my money on… If I had any here. Just because I said I think he's awesome doesn't mean he was automatically going to believe me and if anything it might make him suspicious.

SHIELD would certainly take it that way.

"About my blood," I said hesitantly, not at all a fan of needles. "You can take some if you want- I've always wanted to know what type I was."

And then look up that Japanese blood type personality chart and see how much of it matched.

"What changed your mind?" he asked, going over to get the needle.

Truthfully I wasn't sure, probably because I knew I could trust the guy- unlike SHIELD who were probably watching us right now, expecting me to make Banner hulk out or something.

No thanks- I like my head in one piece.

So I just shrugged, rolling up my sleeve so he could take a sample and looked away as he stuck the needle in my arm.

"I can assure you that I'm not going to do anything bad with it, I just want to check some things," he said.

"Like how I knew about Lokitty?" I asked.

"'Lokitty'?"

"Well you did say Loki's head is like a box of cats, and cat equals kitty," I replied, then frowned. "Wait you haven't said that yet."

Now I want to get a cat and call it Loki-a black cat, then maybe get a tabby and call it Tony. Then perhaps a golden retriever and call it Thor.

I'm not getting a spider though.

"So when do I say it?" he asked, back to the 'I don't believe you but I'll be polite' tone.

"Soon?" I guessed, looking back to see if he'd removed the needle. "Sometime after Shakespeare in the park obviously, probably when Loki's ranting on about stuff."

"Shakespeare in the park," he repeated slowly, wondering what on earth I was talking about.

"Yeah, you know- 'Doth mother know you weareth her drapes'," I said, and he looked like he was considering locking me out. "It's what Tony says to Thor when they have their bitchfest on their way here with Lokitty."

"Sounds fun," he said, after sticking a plaster on my arm.

"It is," I agreed, knowing he didn't actually mean it. "You guys take forever to actually work as a team."

"I'd imagine so- we're not exactly birds of a feather."

He walked over to his microscope (or whatever it was) with the needle filled with my blood- a fact that kind of freaked me out.

"And of course having the diva queen on board doesn't help," I added, thinking about how he wound them up. "That's Loki in case you didn't know."

"Do you always give people nicknames, or is it just the bad guys?" he asked.

I thought about it carefully, did I give everyone nicknames?

"Well I call Stark stuff like Tin Can and Tin Man, Thor is Goldilocks, Hawkeye is Robin Hood or Katniss and Captain America is Cap or the original Mr Whippy," I replied. "For you… hm, I'm not sure I've given you one yet- I don't even know what to call you know."

"Just Bruce will be fine," he replied, busy with my blood- apparently nothing interesting so far. "You know you switch from calling Tony to Stark?"

"I guess I'm weird like that," I replied. "Do you even have Mr Whippy in America?"

This kind of conversation continued on, making me wonder if he was actually getting annoyed by my presence or if he actually enjoyed having company- even if was me.

"Do you think they'll be back soon?" I asked.

He didn't get chance to reply- if he was planning on doing so- because at that moment a random SHIELD agent came into the room and spoke directly to Banner.

"Director Fury wants you to report to the bridge," he said, ignoring my existence completely and making me dislike these secret agents even more.

So Bruce- sparing a glance at me- followed said SHIELD agent, leaving me alone in a room full of scientific equipment.

In all fairness not their greatest plan ever.

But another thought struck me, if he had to go to the bridge- which I'm assuming was the big room where all those SHIELD agents were flying the ship (Or playing games as the case may be) then that must mean that the others have arrived and Loki is now in his cell- which reminds of something, I just can't remember what.

So- if I didn't get lost this time- I should be able to go and see Loki. A thought which excited me probably more than it should have, and gave me the nerve to approach him without fearing what Fury might think.

I quickly left the room and headed in the direction that I assumed it might be, making a mental note to ask Fury to stick up signs so I knew where I was heading and almost ended up running into someone.

"Woah, watch where you're going," they said, hands on my shoulders to stop me. "You nearly knocked me over then."

"Sorry," I said, before looking up and realising who it was I had run into.

Just a certain hot (If incredibly egotistical) billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist.


	5. Chapter 5

"You don't look like a SHIELD agent to me," he said, studying my form carefully and ignoring his accompanying agent- I could have sworn in the film he was talking to Coulson- who looked annoyed at the delay. "I'm guessing you're the crazy chick."

"And I'm guessing you're the guy with the ego bigger than the internet," I replied, watching him grin in response as though being insulted by a crazy (I'm not crazy!) chick was the best thing in the world.

"See how quick they are to turn," he exclaimed to the SHIELD agent, who was now ignoring him- and I had no idea who he was referring to when he said 'they' but I knew my predictions had been right. Tony Stark was no longer a favourite. "So where are you off to then?"

"I'm off to the land of crazy people where anything is possible," I replied sarcastically and he snorted in amusement.

"Say hi to Reindeer Games while you're there," he said, then walked off with his SHIELD agent and left me to glare at his back.

And this guy seriously used to be my favourite character?

I noticed that there weren't as many agents around as usual, and unless they had all dived off the edge of the ship then they all had to be somewhere. My guess was that it had something to do with a certain Norse god who shall not be named- We'll call him Mr Whiskers to be on the safe side.

Now I need to find Mr Whiskers, and … well actually I had no idea what I was going to do. I guess I was just curious about this man, a god whom I'd liked before I even knew he was a supervillain.

Seriously- who doesn't like a god of mischief?

But anyway, if Banner had to report to the bridge then that probably meant that soon they'd be watching Fury with his little interrogation of Mr Whiskers and I'd have to be careful to make sure I didn't just walk in on them. It would be utterly bizarre to be scolded by Fury whilst Loki and the Dream Team were watching me- and several nosy agents.

"How desperate am I?"

Hey, that was Fury. It sounded a bit distant, so I listened carefully as I tried to follow the sound to my target.

"You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

It was definitely getting closer, because when Loki began to speak he sounded louder- and more arrogant.

"Oh… It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract. To have power. Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share- and then to be reminded what real power is."

Did I mention arrogant?

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

I can't believe I'm saying this- thinking- but go Fury! Show Loki who's 'da boss' around here.

Waiting around for a bit, I whistled a random tune before heading into the room. If it could be classed as a room. The big glass prison sticking out to me and the god inside it even more so.

Loki watched me, sitting on his bed as he smirked like he had already won this war. He'd obviously known I was coming.

"Barton's told me all about you," he said as I approached, taking the seat that they'd placed there. "The girl from the other world- the world where my life is nothing but a tale to be told."

Everything was about this guy, wasn't it?

"I suppose you think I'm crazy too," I replied, keeping my voice level. Being in the same room as the guy made you realise how dangerous he was- this wasn't some story where we were going to make some connection and fall madly in love. The way he watched me was like a predator figuring out its next move, figuring out how best to take down the prey facing it.

"Not at all," he said, smirking even more as he stood up and approached the glass. "I believe you. Recent events have opened my eyes to truths that would shake the foundations of these mortals' beliefs- even now when they have you before them they still refuse to open their eyes to the truth."

There was something about the way he said that, it made me suspicious and I studied him carefully- but he wasn't a god of lies for nothing.

"And what truth would that be?" I asked, leaning back in an attempt to seem non-chalant.

"I think you know that already," he replied. "If you would care to lay proof to your claim."

"I thought you said you believed me," I pointed out. "Besides, sometimes the lie is preferable to the truth."

His eyes narrowed. The smirk slipped ever so slightly. He knew what I was talking about, just as I knew I was stepping on dangerous grounds.

"I mean they do say ignorance is bliss," I continued with a shrug, ignoring the fact my heart was beginning to race. Never mind the fact he was behind that glass, he could still be an intimidating figure when needed and I made mental note to avoid this place later on. "But I don't need to explain that to you, do I?"

"Silence your tongue," he hissed. "You may have knowledge about me but that does not mean that you understand it. Someone like yourself will never understand- you were made to be ruled, not rule, and perhaps if you wish to truly understand that then I will show you as I kill you."

Wow. He is a fruit loop.

So because I know about him being Jack Frost and have heard his bitchfest's about how horrible it was to live in Thor's shadow and how he'd had the throne dangled in front of him only to realise it was never his, he threatened to kill me? Wow, I seriously needed a mental evaluation. Every character I liked was either an egotistical jerk or a psychopathic villain.

Well except for Cappy.

And now-Thor, compared to before-Thor.

"I have no idea why Thor get's so Naruto-y over you," I finally said, once he'd calmed down a little. "I mean I don't understand why Naruto is Naruto-y to be honest with you."

"'Naruto'?" he asked quizzically, and it almost made me laugh how confused he looked. Almost. "Who is this Naruto you speak of?"

"What if I said he's some dumb blond kid who's best friend left the village willingly, but he won't accept it so dedicated his life to bringing the friend back against his will?"

"You speak of myself and that oaf," he replied, seemingly figuring it out. "And how does it end for this… Naruto?"

I shrugged, and he looked at me in annoyance.

"What? The story hasn't ended yet- there's kind of war in the way, which probably means the two will unite near the end to take down the bad guy or something. Naruto seemed convinced it was going to end with them both dying anyway."

"Neither of those options are acceptable for me- I will rule this world even if I have to kill him."

"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine," I commented sarcastically, forgetting to put a lid on my tongue and watching his expression darken again.

"What brings you here anyway, mortal?" he said sharply. "Have you come merely to stare at me as though I were here for display?"

Should I say yes just annoy him?

"To the latter question- no. As for the first," I paused as I looked him squarely in the eyes. "Well I was rather hoping that you could answer that one."

Once again a smirk appeared on his face.

"Perhaps you aren't as ignorant as I presumed you were," he said with a chuckle. "Though I think we can both safely say that we both know what the answer to that query will be."

"Well then I'd better let go get back to taking over that prison," I replied out of annoyance, walking away before I could say anything else stupid. The best thing to do know would be to return to the lab where the bitchfest was scheduled to take place- then I could meet Thor and perhaps do something about it.

That plus it would soon be time for Coulson to die.

But not if I had anything to say about it.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony and Bruce were already setting to work tracking down the Tesseract when I found my way back to lab.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract," he was saying as he scanned the Sceptre. "But it's going to take weeks to process."

"If we bypass the main frame and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops."

None of that made any sense to me.

I went over to one of the empty desks and lifted myself up to sit on it as Stark noticed my presence.

"Hey look, it's the crazy chick," he said. "What brings you here?"

"I came to see the masters at work," I replied sarcastically and he grinned in reply. "And I'd appreciate it if you would stop calling me 'crazy chick'- I have a name you know."

"Sure you do," he agreed with a nod, going back to his computers. "Didn't pay attention to what it is though- I bet Bruce didn't either though."

"It's Jessica Attwater," said Bruce in an effort to disprove that statement. Stark looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You know you should come by Stark Tower sometime- not you." That last part was aimed at me, and I rolled my eyes in response. "Top ten floors all R&D. You'd love it, it's Candyland."

"Thanks, but last time I was in New York, I kinda broke… Harlem," replied Bruce as Stark approached him, walking past and appearing to me to be staring at his butt.

"Well I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises."

Here he stabbed Bruce in the side with what appeared to be a miniature cattle prod and I tried not to let any amusement show on my face as Stark turned to see my reaction when Bruce failed to Hulk out.

"Hey!"

I turned to see Steve as he walked into the room, a stern look fixed on Tony.

"Nothing?" asked the playboy, studying the scientist carefully.

"Are you nuts?" exclaimed Steve.

"Jury's out," replied Stark before turning back to Bruce. "You've really got a lid on it haven't you. What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bad of weed? Does the crazy chick have any ideas?"

"Not having to put up with you," I replied automatically, making him chuckle.

Did everything I say just come out as a big joke to him? Was I like one of those little kids who comes up with smartarse remarks that makes everyone laugh.

"Perhaps you should stop insulting the lady," Steve said warningly. "And stop threatening the safety of everyone on this ship. No offense, Doc."

I mentally cheered as Steve stuck up for me, feeling grateful that there were people on this ship who were willing to be nice to me. I mean my two most favourite characters were against me.

"It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things," replied Bruce, a quick look my way and a raised eyebrow from Tony.

"You're tip-toeing, big man," he said. "You need to strut."

He sent a smirk my way, and I almost gave him the finger in reply.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." Steve seemed a bit uncomfortable with how Tony and I were interacting… Did he think we were flirting? No thank you.

"Do you think I'm not?" asked Tony, attention back on Cappy. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's _the _spy. His secrets have secrets." He pointed at me. "Example number one- we only found out about her because of a slip o the tongue and who knows how many secrets she's hiding. And if she just happens not to be crazy then I'm willing to bet that she knows what the answers to all of those questions- even if she won't tell us. It's bugging him out too, isn't it?"

Bruce looked uncomfortable at being put on the spotlight.

But seriously it was only through a 'slip of the tongue' that they found out about me? Was Fury planning to keep me secret? Plus who's tongue was it that slipped? Because I doubt it was Fury's- he was too good for that.

"Uhh- I just want to finish my work here and… Uhh-"

"Doctor?"

"'A warm light for all mankind'. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube," he began.

"I heard it," replied the soldier.

"Well, I think that was meant for you," he said, pointing at Tony.

Who in return offered him something out of the silver packet in his hand.

When did he get that?

"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower it was still all over the news," he finished.

"The Stark Tower? The big, ugly…" Steve paused as Tony gave him a look and I tried not to say anything. But who could resist the urge to poke Tony right where it hurts- the ego that is. "Building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arc reactor- a self-sustaining energy source," explained Bruce. "That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"It's just the prototype," pointed out Tony. "I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's trying to get at."

"So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programme finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files," said Tony, bringing Steve to attention.

"I'm sorry, did you just say-"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," explained the playboy with a shrug. "In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide, unless our friend here wants to give us the info herself. Blueberry?"

All three looked at me, Steve ignoring the blueberries being offered to him. I held up my hands in defense.

"If I did know I wouldn't- its not mine to tell," I replied, and Steve nodded. Satisfied that I wasn't on the same boat as them two- although to be honest I did already know so I could resist it.

"And you're confused about why they didn't want you around," he said to Tony.

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence?" he replied. "Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," commented the soldier, and I nodded slightly in agreement. "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following's not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" said Steve in an attempt at a jab- doomed to fail of course.

"Of the people in this room, which one is ,A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of any use?" retorted Tony.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you," interceded Bruce, when Steve clenched his jaw ever so subtly.

"Just find the Cube," he said before leaving the room in a stiff, military fashion.

"You know," began Tony shortly afterwards, looking pointedly at me. "If you told us where the Cube was you could save us a load of trouble."

Yeah, and also stop 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' from properly forming so that the next time Earth gets in trouble it all falls to pieces and ends with everyone dying. Or some such scenario.

"And here I thought you didn't believe me," I said instead, giving him a look of disbelief.

"I don't believe you," he replied. "It would probably kill the time it takes for us to _actually_ find it."

There was a pause.

"You're an ass," I said.

"And you are mean," replied Tony, looking mock offended. "Isn't she mean, Bruce?"

Bruce gave him a look which warned him not to drag him into this and went back to working on the screen in front of him.

"Well you're the one who keeps calling me crazy," I protested and he raised an eyebrow.

"You are crazy," he replied and I ran a hand through my hair. "You can't expect me to believe what you said."

"I don't care if you believe me or not," I replied. "It's the fact that you keeping taking the piss out of me that I don't like."

There was a pause as we stared each other down. I was seriously berating myself for actually liking the guy. He was so annoying.

"Steve's not wrong about Loki," said Bruce, in an attempt to stop the situation getting worse. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit," replied Tony, walking away from me- to my relief. "It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm gonna be there when it does."

"Yeah, I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh," said Tony, unconvinced. "Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us."

"You see, I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed." I looked over at him, feeling kinda sorry for him. I mean from what I've seen about him it's usually the Hulk who has more press than him. "Like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know," began Tony. "I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it. This little circle of light, it's a part of me now, not just armour. It's a terrible privilege."

"But you can control it," pointed out Bruce.

"Because I learned how."

"It's different."

"Bruce," I began hesitantly, and the two men looked at me. "Don't hate me for saying this… but you shouldn't let yourself be… affected by the other guy. Whether you believe me or not about my background is up to you, but the fact is I know how low it got for you so I can guess sometimes it must have been bad. But Tony has a point, you can learn to control this- it will only be as bad as you believe it."

"So you're saying I should go about and act as though I have a normal life?" he asked. "And what if the Hulk… the other guy gets loose and decided to level a couple of blocks."

"He's not a bad guy," I said firmly and he looked at me sharply, so I changed my tactics. "Bruce, you're not a bad guy- don't let the other guy control your life."

"He doesn't-"

"He does," I interrupted. "Because of him your fear of what he'll do you punish yourself by sending yourself to remote places and avoiding people."

"I think what crazy chick means is that you don't have to punish yourself for something that's not your fault- and that there are people here who would be willing to stick their necks out for you," interpreted Stark, but not without a quick smirk thrown my way. "I mean I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying the other guy saved my life?" Bruce said to Stark. "That's nice. That's a nice sentiment. But that doesn't mean I can come back to living in highly populated areas just because the other guy _might_ just be some poor, misunderstood creature."

Stark shrugged and went back over to his own screen, Bruce walked over to me and stood in front of me as he wiped his forehead.

"So I mention how low I got, do I?" he asked, and I nodded in reply. "How did that make you feel?"

"Angry," I replied. "No-one should ever feel like they have to put a bullet in their mouth."

He looked surprised.

"You know, it's statements like that which make me almost believe you," he said, Tony snorted from his side and I shot a glare at his back. "Thanks."

"No problem," I replied, watching him walk away and feeling like I might have actually done some good here.


	7. Chapter 7

"So who's your favourite character?"

Now I hadn't been expecting that, and I looked up at Tony questioningly. Him and Bruce had obviously finished working on setting up the tracking… device. So now Tony had obviously decided to play 20Q with me.

"I mean if we are film characters where you come from, then surely you have a favourite character," explained the playboy with a smirk. "So who do you like the best?"

"Well I don't think it matters since you don't believe me," I replied with a shrug. "Besides, having met most of you my opinions have changed."

"So who was it before you met us then?" He walked over and joined me on the counter. "Come on, Bruce won't hate you if you say it's me."

I didn't say anything, but my face must have given something away because he grinned widely.

"So it is me," he said, placing an arm around my shoulder. "At least there's a sane part to you."

"You _were_ my favourite," I corrected, trying not to let it show that I was fangirling on the inside. I mean douchebag or not that was awesome. "You've been too much of an ass to remain so."

"So who's your favourite now?"

I didn't reply- mainly because I didn't have a favourite now. I mean they were real people- either that or this was one realistic dream- and really I shouldn't go around choosing favourites. Not to say that I don't have opinions on the characters so far.

Tony is an ass. Simple as. He's only ever referred to me as 'the crazy chick' and makes a habit out of taking the piss out of me whenever he can. I know he's supposed to be a good guy really, under all that ego- but that doesn't stop him from being a total ass.

The first time I watched _Avengers Assemble_, I didn't like Fury- though the second time I did have some sort of respect for the guy. Knowing him personally makes me lean more towards the former, but I still have to respect that he is doing his job and is being exceedingly kind to me by letting me out of that room.

Much like in the film I couldn't get much of a read on Barton. There was the whole SHIELD thing about him though with all the questions, but I couldn't get much from him. He seemed like he might be okay though.

Bruce was high up on my 'like' list, being a nice guy and all. Our little heart-to-heart (Something which made me cringe with embarrassment) had got us a little closer, and it was nice to know that there might be a small part of him that actually believes me.

Steve and I hadn't interacted much, but he was pretty much what I imagined him to be- all polite and old-fashioned. He seemed like a nice guy, though it was hard to tell when he and Tony were having a go at each other.

Coulson was high up on the list as well, seeing as he was generally a very friendly person and was probably the nicest SHIELD agent there was- which made me all the more determined to save him.

I had yet to meet Thor and Black Widow, but I knew I would meet them soon when everyone came to this lab to have their giant argument- something I was in a way looking forward to as I had something to add to Steve and Tony's argument.

"So we're going to do it the hard way, huh?" asked the playboy, grinning in a way that was oddly scary.

"What are you doing, Mr Stark?"

It was that time already?

We both looked across as Fury entered the room. He didn't look happy at all. Although to be honest I don't think he ever has.

"Just a little Q&A," he replied, taking his arm off me and walking back over to the monitor he had been working on earlier.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," said the Director.

"We are," Bruce said, probably to save his ass rather than Tony's and pointing over to the computer on the other side of the lab. "The model's locked and we're searching for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, ten you get your Cube back," agreed Tony. "No muss, no fuss. What is 'Phase 2'?"

At that moment Steve came in, dumping some weird-looking gun on a table near me and not looking very happy.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons," he said, then looking to Stark said; "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."

I knew round about then it would be wise for me not to interfere.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," Fury tried to explain to Steve. "This does not mean that we're making-"

"I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" interrupted Tony, swivelling the screen around so we could see the blueprints to some kind of weapon.

"I was wrong Director, the world hasn't changed a bit," Steve said coldly just as Thor and Black Widow came into the room.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Widow, as Thor looked at me with a slightly bewildered look.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor," replied Widow, avoiding the question altogether. I raised a hand in greeting to Thor, smiling as well, and he did the same in reply.

Such a nice guy.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed," pointed out Bruce.

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you got a little twitchy." He went over and pointed to the weapon on the diagram Stark had brought up. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

There was a short pause. Fury pointed at Thor.

"Because of him."

"Me?" asked Thor, bewildered, and some of the others seemed to share this sentiment.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town," he explained. "We learned that not only are we not alone in the universe, but we are hopelessly- hilariously- outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," protested Thor.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" interjected Steve, and there were some looks sent my way.

Oh please god, don't let me be dragged into this.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," pointed out Thor angrily. "It is a signal to all realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" questioned Steve.

"You forced our hand," replied Fury. "We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent," interpreted Tony. "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."

With rainbows and puppy dogs.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep in-" began Steve.

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Tony. "How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

Burn. And they said Steve had no sense of humour.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," commented Thor in distaste.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" asked Fury as everyone began to argue at once- except _moi_, there was no way in hell I was getting dragged into this.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust," said the Asgardian.

"Are you guys really that naïve?" asked Widow, getting sucked into the argument. "SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Captain America's on threat watch?" asked Bruce in disbelief.

"We all are."

"Wait, you're on the list?" Tony asked the soldier. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

I hate bees- they're evil.

"Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack-"

"Threat! Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"

"Show some respect."

"Respect for what?"

I ran my hands through my hair, my own temper beginning to rise as they continued to bicker and bitch on. Sure it was interesting in the movie but now it was just plain annoying- and this is seriously what Coulson sacrificed himself for?

I mean sure they do eventually get working, but that shouldn't cost someone's life to do so.

So what could I do? I mean sure I could just go out there and save Coulson's life- but then how will these guys get the push they need to actually _be_ a team? The choices so far were either let Coulson die or suddenly gather up the nerve to play angry parent to the Avengers.

This wasn't going to end well.


	8. Chapter 8

They continued to argue on relentlessly; Steve and Tony mainly at each other whilst the other four were at each others throats. I had thankfully so far not been dragged into the conversation, although mentally I had been making smartarse remarks in reply to what they were saying. But other than that I remained silent where I sat on the desk, like some kind of ninja or ghost- or a ninja ghost.

Ninja ghost would be epic.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." That was Thor, and I had to agree with him going by the state of the situation.

"That's his M.O. isn't it?" asked Bruce, thinking along the same lines- I think. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

And so am I because I am seriously considering just grounding them all and sending them to their rooms- and no lab, gym or Pop Tart privileges either.

"You need to step away," Fury said warningly to Bruce.

But trust me, it was going to be me he would have to worry about.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" asked Tony, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. The super soldier knocked it off immediately.

"You know damn well why," snapped Cappy. "Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," said the playboy dangerously.

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armour- take that off what are?"

Naked.

But before Tony could reply I was getting ready to strangle them both so decided to intervene.

"Will you both just shut up!" I snapped, everyone looking at me in surprise- even Tony was unable to make a smartarse remark. "You're all acting like a bunch of preschool children, bitching at each other because none of you can swallow your egos long enough to work together! You might as well just hand the world other to Loki on a big silver platter and tell him that he might as well have it now since you obviously don't have time to get of your high horse and save it. So SHIELD's making weapons with the Tesseract- big surprise! But that's not the problem right now so I suggest you just shut up about it and get back to doing what you are supposed to be doing!"

There was a long silence after that, everyone completely surprised at my sudden outburst and probably trying to think of something to say.

"Well that was unexpected," Tony finally managed to say. "And more to the point, if our existence is fictional where you come from then that surely means that we would actually get working together so your scolding was completely unnecessary, mother."

"Not if someone has to die in order for that to happen," I said pointedly. "I'm sure people would think a lot better of you if it didn't cost someone's life for you to stop being a jackass."

There was another pause, but this time I could tell there was some guilt in it and felt proud of myself.

"Who dies?" asked Fury. It was surprising, because he didn't look angry or annoyed at my outburst- more approving than anything.

"No-one if I have anything to say about it," I replied.

The computer beeped, and the room was immediately in action as Bruce went over to check the computer, Widow following behind him.

"You located the Tesseract?" asked Thor.

"I can get there the fastest," Tony said.

Everyone ignored the fact that I had jumped off the table, because I was pretty sure that something big and resembling an explosion was about to happen. I felt really guilty about not telling them, but I had to let this happen so I knew what was going to happen next so I could save Coulson. Even when the explosion goes off I knew I would have time to find him because Thor would fight the Hulk first before it all went down.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard," interceded Thor. "No human is a match for it."

"You're not going alone," Steve said to Tony.

"You're gonna stop me?" Tony asked.

Obviously enough time had passed for them to get their tails out from between their legs and go back to circling and snapping.

"Put on the suit," replied Steve. "Let's find out."

And here I thought Steve would know better. But then again it is Tony he's against…

"I'm not afraid of hitting an old man."

"Put on the suit."

"Oh my god," Bruce said, and before anyone could ask where it was, a huge explosion filled the room.

The shockwave knocked me over, sending me to the floor and showering me with rubble. The noise making my ears ring, the world seeming to waver about before settling back to normal.

"Put on the suit," I heard Steve say, and saw him help Tony up.

"Yeah," agreed the playboy, and they both left the room.

Bruce and Widow had obviously fallen through the newly created hole in the lab, and Fury was next to leave as he headed to the bridge to find out what had happened.

I don't know how they managed to get up so quickly, I was still struggling to and took the hand that was soon offered to me.

"Are you alright?" asked Thor, who has the only other person left in the room.

"Been better," I replied, trying to ignore the fact the room was swaying slightly and that I could have sworn I heard Bruce going Hulk down there.

Thor had obviously heard it as well.

"I must leave you," he said, looking down at the hole as the sounds of things being destroyed reached our ears. "I believe it best for you to leave this area if you wish to remain unharmed."

"Got it," I agreed with a small salute. "Just give a sec."

He nodded, jumping down the hole as he went to fight against the Hulk. When I finally had recovered, the first thing I noticed was Loki's sceptre remained in its stand. My first instinct was to take it with me- I needed to stop Loki, but on the other hand I was going to meet up with Coulson so I'd meet Loki. The better option was to leave it then so they didn't associate me with Loki.

So with once last glance I left the room, almost falling over as the corridor shook violently. A loud roar was heard below and SHIELD agents could be seen running in order to escape should the Hulk get to this level.

I had no idea where Coulson was so I decided the best way to find him was to head to Loki's cell, where I was bound to meet up with him and hope to god he just didn't tell me to leave.

I could see it just up ahead now, the door opening as Loki went to leave.

"No!"

I watched in mute shock as Thor went to stop Loki, only to slide through him as it turned out to be a copy.

Surely it couldn't be that time already?

"Are you ever _not _going to fall for that?" asked Loki as he stood next to the control panel.

"What are you doing here?"

I almost yelped, but managed to cover my mouth before turning to face Coulson. He was holding the Destroyer gun in his hands and appeared to be watching Loki rather than me.

"Stay close," he said to me before I could reply to his question and moving to stand in front of me as we walked into the room. He'd obviously decided that it was better to keep me near so he could protect me- or us me as a hostage if it did turn out I was working with Loki.

"The humans think us immortal," Loki said to Thor, after he attempted to break the glass with Mjolnir. "Should we test that?"

We had reached the SHIELD agent Loki had under his command, Coulson knocking him out quickly and pointing the gun at Loki.

"Move away please," he said, as polite as ever. Loki looked at the gun before he took a couple of steps back. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does."

I tensed up as I prepared to do something both heroic and stupid. But mainly stupid.

"Do you want to find out?"

My body was three steps ahead of my mind as I slid across to protect Coulson's back, Loki appearing from god knows wear and missing the agent as I protected him.

"No!" I heard Thor shout. Surprise showed on Loki's face. And I looked down to see my hands had grabbed hold of his when he had plunged the knife into my stomach. A pool of red began to spread. Loki became angry. Coulson turned to help.

That's right about where it started to go wrong.

The Norse God let go of the knife, after giving it a purposeful twist and pulled my arms off him as he grabbed my throat.

"If you want to be a hero so much then I'll let you share my brother's fate," he hissed, practically spitting out the word brother. He swung his other arm around and hit Coulson around the head. The agent dropped to the ground, no-one to stop Loki as he practically pushed me along, making me trip on the steps as he went to stand by the control panel.

He put on a mocking face of regret, his grip tightening on my throat as he spoke.

"And I was going to let you live," he said, sighing dramatically and shaking his head. "I would have spared you the fate of the rest of humanity."

Yeah, only in return for information. I tried to send that thought across in my glare. Whether he got it or not I don't know, but he smirked at me before pushing one of the buttons and throwing me backwards.

I barely had time to register what was happening before I hit something solid, both things tumbling to the floor. But as I watched the glass door slide shut I knew it must have been Thor. I struggled to my feet as Loki went to press the big red button that would sent us plummeting to our deaths.

Or rather my death.

Loki seemed victorious as he pressed the button, the sound of the wind rushing in sending fear into my heart and the sudden feeling of weightlessness meaning I was now only seconds away from death.


	9. Chapter 9

I remember one time I went on a ride called _Apocalypse_. It was said the be the scariest ride in Britain- a 54m free-fall ride where you reach up to 50mph speed and 4g- whatever that is. It looks basically like a tower with rows of seats attached to it- or just harnesses for those who dare do it standing up- and basically takes you to the top before letting you plunge down. It wasn't the tallest of those rides, but it still managed to terrify me- the wind rushing past my face and the feelings that my organs were pushing upwards.

This was nothing like that.

Just as the doors beneath us had opened, Thor had quickly grabbed me in a bear hug as we began to drop. At first it was just a straight drop, but then the cell began to spin and we found ourselves rolling around, bouncing off the walls. Each impact sending shockwaves of pain through my body armour and a jolt of agony as there was a cracking sound from my arm.

I'd never felt this much pain or fear before, and I was surprised that I wasn't screaming as we fell.

It probably only lasted several seconds before Thor spun Mjolnir, the sudden jolt sideways making me gasp out in pain because of my arm and the glass that showered us stinging exposed skin.

He twisted around as we sped towards the ground so when he hit it he hit it first, skidding along until we came to a halt.

Neither of us moved, taking a moment to allow ourselves to recover. Although the Norse god was mainly unharmed, I could feel the piercing agony from my most likely broken arm and the stinging from the dagger in my stomach. In fact my whole body hurt and I wouldn't have been surprised if I turned out to be just one big bruise.

"Are you alright?" I heard him ask as he shifted slightly under me. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," I lied, then let out a hiss as he touched my arm. "Although I think that's broken."

Moving as gingerly as I could, I slid off the god and tried to manoeuvre myself into a sitting position. The first thing I did afterwards was use my good arm to pull out Loki's knife, looking at it in disgust before slipping it into my pocket.

Just in case.

"You are badly wounded- we must take you to get help," exclaimed the god, and I shook my head furiously as I held my broken arm. "It is for your best interests."

But I couldn't delay Thor- he needed to go and help the others in New York, but I knew he wasn't going to leave me on my own. Looking down at my arm I wished I could heal it, fix it so that I could get him to go- saving Coulson wasn't going to be worth the trouble if Loki took over the world.

"There are more important things to take care of right now," I said, even though inside I so desperately wanted not to die and at the same time wanted the pain to end.

My luck must have decided to turn good. The pain in my arm faded, little by little, and as I looked down again at my arm I was surprised. The swelling in my arm was going down and the skin returning to its normal colour.

"You can heal yourself."

In moments my arm appeared to be back to normal, and I tested it experimentally. It was like it had never been broken at all.

For a moment I thought it was a Wolverine style ability, but my attention was drew to the still bleeding wound in my stomach.

How the hell does that work?

Looking across to Thor, I noticed he had a cut on in cheek- probably from the glass- and decided to test out a theory I had formed thanks to my previous _Naruto _obsession.

"Don't kill me," I said to Thor before reaching out and placing my fingers on the cut. He looked surprised but didn't move as I willed it to heal, watching in satisfaction and glee as the cut healed itself. "I guess I have powers now."

If I could have I would have probably have gone fangirl and started gushing on about how cool it is that I have powers- not a great power but a power nonetheless. But I knew that Thor had somewhere to be.

"You did not have these skills before?" asked Blondielocks, and I shook my head.

"Not that I know of," I replied and set about healing the rest of my wounds. "But I do know this- we've got to get you to New York."

"New York?"

I looked up at the blond god, part of me noting that this was probably one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me- sitting in a field full of flowers with a Norse god and playing superhero.

"Loki is going to open a portal on top of Stark tower- if he hasn't already," I explained.

"Then we must hasten to the battle." Thor quickly got to his feet. "But first I must retrieve Mjolnir."

"You do that," I replied, giving him a salute from my position on the ground.

He gave me a bemused look before offering an unsure nod and walking off in the direction of his fallen hammer.

It gave me chance to let myself catch up with events and calm myself down, because although I seemed calm on the inside I was crying on the inside. I had been absolutely shaken by what happened. I was also trying to deal with the hatred I know felt for Loki, for stabbing me and doing such a thing.

How could I have been so stupid as to actually _like _a person like him? All those times I'd wondered if there could be a chance that Loki could be good.

I got to my feet, shaking slightly. Taking a deep breath I headed the way Thor had. He was stood over it, hand reached out to pick it up but didn't.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He didn't speak as he picked up Mjolnir, turning to face me with a solemn face. Was he thinking about going to battle against Loki? He really did seem to care about the god of lies so much, it made me feel bad about hating Loki- but only a little. I mean just because Thor had known him longer didn't mean I should trust his opinion over what had occurred.

"Is this about fighting Loki?" I guessed. Again I got no answer. "Well if you don't want to fight him you could just kick Chitauri ass."

This time he smiled ever so slightly. I began wondering where the loud, overconfident musclehead I thought he was had gone to.

"Thank you for your kindness, but it is not battling my brother which weighs on my mind," he replied.

"So what does way on your mind?" I asked. "Is it how to get to New York because I have no idea of that- or where it is for that matter."

He grinned now, and I quickly realised how it was that Thor would go. I mean if you remember back to how he arrived then there was a pretty big clue.

"We must go!" he declared. "There is a battle to be fought."

There's the loud, overconfident musclehead.

I mentally screamed, a stream of curse words giving me a mental headache as I allowed the god to wrap his arm around me. He began to spin Mjolnir, preparing us for what was- to me- going to be yet another terrifying moment. My body jolted as we suddenly prepared upwards and away, this time the wind definitely rushing past and I could have sworn that a bug just flew into my mouth.

Next time I think I'll just take a plane.


	10. Chapter 10

When we landed at the tower, I was so grateful that the whole flying part of this escapade was over done with that I actually felt like hugging the ground. I probably would have as well if weren't for the fact that Muscles and Bug King were watching me- actually make that Bug Prince, he doesn't deserve that title either.

"Loki!" shouted Thor. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it."

I decided to sit this part out, having no desire to get involved in a fight between two gods.

"You can't! There is no stopping it," replied Loki with some relish. "Unlike you, mortal. I have stabbed you, sent you falling to your death and yet you stand there as if you were never harmed at all."

"Yes, well I discovered that I have my own abilities thanks to you," I replied evenly taking a seat on the nearby steps.

"I imagine you must feel grateful then." Loki smirked and I felt anger welling up in me.

"Grateful?!" I snapped. "You're just lucky that it wasn't a harmful ability I have!"

He just chuckled, pointing his sceptre at me from where he was standing on the platform.

"And you're lucky that it is not you I intend to fight," he said, letting out a cry as he leapt at Thor, swinging the sceptre overhead.

They started to fight, the two of them going at each other as I ran into the tower and looked around the room in question.

"Jarvis!" I called out, hoping that the AI was still active in the tower. "Now would be a good time."

"Can I help you?"

I let out a sigh of relief at the AI's smooth British voice filled the room.

"Is there anything here that's vaguely weapon-like?" I asked, giving the knife on the side instant dismissal- not blades, never blades.

"If you supposedly know that much about me then you'd know I don't make weapons anymore."

I jumped at the sound of Stark's voice, looking around for the source and spotting an earpiece on the side.

"Well something useful," I said, picking it u and placing it on. "You have two gods battling on your balcony who have just changed your name to Sta."

"You know you sound pretty well for someone who was supposed to have plummeted to their death," commented the playboy.

"It would probably be best for you to stay out of the way." Hawkeye's voice coming over the radio –or whatever it was- was a nice surprise. "From what Coulson told us you're bound to be losing a lot of blood."

So Coulson had survived? That was a relief, I wouldn't have been surprised if Loki had killed him after I'd left.

"Actually…" I began. "I recently discovered that I can… heal people."

"You can heal people? What, like touch them and they're better?" demanded Stark, sounding like a child at Christmas. "Well then we'd better keep you extra safe so we can use you when this is over."

"Stop insulting the lady, Stark." Captain America. "I take it you're okay then ma'am?"

"I am, thanks for asking," I replied, ignoring the fact I heard Tony snort at the word ma'am.

"There should be an experimental Repulsor somewhere on the side," he finally said, and I was surprised that he was actually giving me a weapon.

And a Repulsor nonetheless.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Stark," I heard Barton say warningly.

"Well she needs to defend herself," pointed out Tony. It was nice to see that he actually cared. "Plus if it does accidently blow up then at least it won't be me."

He's such an ass.

I looked around the sides where Tony had stored about a million bottles of alcohol, spotting the Iron Man glove on the side- without its red colouring, but other than that looked exactly like his other Repulsor. Pulling it on I immediately began to wonder how he could stand to wear these things, they were very uncomfortable. Although that could have been because it was designed for his big manly hands and not my little girly hands.

That just sounded like I'd insulted myself.

I admit I may have spent longer than necessary putting on the Repulsor, but there wasn't exactly anything I could do at that moment and I briefly wondered how far we were into the whole battle. Had Bruce got here yet?

Imagine the surprise when a giant… sky thing- or Leviathan as they are properly known flew past the tower, making me jump in surprise as I watched the giant shape descend on the city. Being here made me really appreciate just how huge these things were and for a few moments I was speechless as I watched it.

"Look at this!" My eye flicked to where Loki and Thor were, Thor holding his brother close in case he tried to escape. "Look around you! You think this madness will end in your rule?"

"It's too late," Loki said, looking for all the world like had finally opened his eyes and realised the error of his ways. Total bull. "It's too late to stop it."

"No, we can, together," disagreed Thor, and had I not been nursing a sudden hatred for the god or trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to get this thing to fire, I would have probably yelled 'Gaaaaay!' at them during their intense stare moment.

Quick as a flash Loki stabbed Thor, the older god letting go of him as he reached to his side.

"Sentiment," he said in distaste, then looked at me as he noticed me pointing the Repulsor at him.

"Pew," I said. The Repulsor fired at him, knocking him off the tower and onto one of the ships the Chitauri were using.

Thor turned to look at me in surprise, and I offered him a wave as he pulled the blade out of his side. He uncertainly waved back, but was unable to hide a small grin before swinging Mjolnir and leaping off to join the others in their battle.

"Did you just blast Loki?" Clint asked, sounding impressed.

"Who blasted Loki?" asked Tony, extremely curious.

"Yes I did," I replied, glancing down at the metal glove on my arm. "Can I keep this?"

"No," the billionaire instantly replied. "But if you're a good girl and stay in that tower then I'll make you one."

"Stark," Steve said wearily.

To be honest I was surprised that he could use these things. But then again they did just seem to be open link.

And why was Nat ignoring us?

It was quite obvious why they wanted me to stay here- well, not for Tony- they knew that I wasn't a soldier, and even if I had gone totally badass and blasted Loki off the tower I was just basically a newbie to all of the battling stuff.

So for me the best thing to do was to stay in the tower and wait for Loki to make his crash landing and then do an overdramatic dive out of the way when the Hulk came through. Then perhaps I could also have a chat with Loki without the guy using his 'holier-than-thou' attitude.

If he behaved I might get him a drink.

I decided to keep the Repulsor on- not because it made me feel badass (Although it did make me feel _really _badass) but because I felt safer with it on. Who knew if the Chitauri would decided to attack the tower- they probably didn't before because no-one was inside.

Walking out onto the balcony, I avoided the area where the glass railing had got blown away and peered over the edge. My eye sight may not have been as good as a hawks, but it was hard not to notice the fire and destruction down there. People running around, the Avengers fighting against the Chitauri as they fired their weapons at anything that moved. Explosions happening along streets as Loki fired his sceptre from the craft.

More Leviathans were coming through the portal. I could have sworn I saw something large and green go flying through a building. There was a sudden thunderstorm and lightning flew at the portal, killing some of those who had dared come through.

This was war, it wasn't glorious and I certainly didn't feel happy about it. I also didn't like sitting around here doing nothing, but I'd like to think I was smart enough not to go just charging in there. I'd be more likely to make things worse or just be a fifth wheel.

But as I stood there, leaning on the banister whilst supporting my head with my hand (Not the Repulsor hand though, I didn't want to blast myself) and watching the battle unfold beneath me it was good to know that I could relish on one moment.

Call me evil, but I had enjoyed giving Loki a faceful of Repulsor..


	11. Chapter 11

I had taken my place back on the steps after a few Chitauri strayed too close, trying to kill me from where I was. Obviously I hadn't taken that well and had fired the Repulsor right at them. Something which was scarily giving me too much joy, even though that joy was mainly that I was still alive and the adrenaline rushing through my body.

That plus the fact I could actually hit what I was aiming it. Well, most of the time- I was going to get Hawkeye to teach me since he was the expert. If he would teach me that was, I mean we weren't exactly best buddies. But they had seemed… nicer to me when I'd spoken to them over the earpiece, something that was slightly suspicious and yet nice.

The battle was still going on down below, I could her it even up here and with the portal hanging overhead it was hard to watch in awe and shock as swarms of the Chitauri came through and even more Leviathans.

"Anything interesting happening with you?" Came Tony's voice over the earpiece.

"Nope," I replied. "A couple of Chitauri passed by earlier though- they blew up some of your alcohol."

"They did what?!"

I bit back a laugh at his reaction. It was a lot more than I had expected when I had seen several of the bottle shatter. I mean I knew he would probably be annoyed at the fact, but this…

"Stark," I heard Steve say warningly. He seemed to have become my unofficial guardian in this, or at least my guardian against Stark. "Are you alright?"

"Of course she's fine," Stark interrupted before I could reply. "She's using my tech- how could she not be?"

"Your _experimental _tech," I pointed out. There was a loud smash as Loki flew through the glass railing to land on the balcony. "Wow, you're like a bad penny."

"I'm a bad penny?" I heard Stark ask in confusion.

"I was actually talking to Loki," I said as Loki got to his feet, seething with rage and looking at me with pure hatred. "Who should probably look to his right."

He actually did it as well, only to get knocked back as the Hulk leapt at him and sent them both crashing into the tower.

"Don't engage with Loki," I heard Steve say in warning. "He's too dangerous."

As if I didn't know that- the guy stabbed me them dropped me off the Helicarrier.

"Enough!" I heard Loki shout, sounding really pissed. "You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature and I will not be bullied by-"

His rant was cut short when the Hulk grabbed him and used him to batter the floor.

"Don't worry, the Hulk's handling him," I informed them. "Leaving several Loki shaped holes in the floor I might add."

I took off the earpiece as I winced at the brutality of it, Loki being tossed around like a rag doll and left in obvious agony as the Hulk walked away.

"Puny god," he said, sounding surprisingly Bruce-like instead of the deeper voice I'd imagine he'd have.

I got up and walked into the room, the Hulk sharply turning and looking at me. I'll admit that it did scare me and I felt like just backing out of the room- but I knew he wasn't a bad guy, so it would have been stupid.

Safe but stupid.

"Nice job," I said to him, looking over to where Loki was lying and letting out a pathetic whimper. The Hulk just continued to stare at me with that kind-of scowl he wore. "I think there are still Chitauri out there to smash."

That made him grin and he ran out of the room, leaping off the balcony and letting me breath a sigh of relief.

Walking over to Loki, I sat next to him as he lay in his crater.

"Don't tell anyone I did this," I said to him as I placed my hand on his forehead and began to heal his wounds. I wasn't stupid enough to completely heal them, but it was almost pitiful seeing him in that much pain.

He didn't say anything for a moment, instead watching me very carefully with his sharp green eyes.

"Do not fool yourself my thinking that this will make us even for you blasting me with that weapon," he finally said, and I pulled my hand away.

"Funny," I replied evenly, crossing my arms. "I though the blasting you off the tower made us even for you stabbing me and dropping me."

"I was not aiming for you so it was your own fault," he said and I almost smacked him around the head- using the Repulsor again seemed so tempting.

"You were going to kill Coulson, and you can't kill Coulson because that is just not on," I pointed out, and he seemed a bit confused by my terminology but otherwise got it. "I'm relieving you of some of your pain because being a good guy isn't just about beating up the bad guys, you have to help people to. Even the bad guys."

"Sentiment," he said in disgust.

"Loser," I countered, and he went back to looking annoyed. "You know there are a lot of people where come from you think you're the coolest person ever."

"There are?" Now he sounded curious.

"Yeah, and a lot of people who think that you could be a good person inside," I added.

"They clearly do not know me that well," he replied bitterly. "Like you they think they can understand me from the little knowledge they have of me."

"The little knowledge we have?" I countered, thinking that now I had this chance to talk to him I could use it to test the waters and see if those fans had a point. "Knowledge like the fact you are a frost giant?"

His head snapped around as he turned to glare at me, but I didn't let that put me off.

"Odin found you as a baby after some huge battle, you'd been abandoned because of your small size and so he took you back to Asgard and raised you alongside Thor. As you grew up you resented the difference in how you and Thor were treated, because Asgardians are basically just jocks who prefer strength and bravery more and Thor clearly had more of that. You were more skilled in cunning, intelligence and magic. Of course eventually you found out you were a frost giant, something Asgardians were taught are nothing but monsters and you realised that you never had a chance of becoming king in the first place."

"I will acknowledge that perhaps you have more knowledge than I give you credit for," the god said in his hign-and-mighty tone. "But do you think that gives you mortals a clear perception of how I felt- how I feel?"

"I imagine you're feeling pretty gutted because you've lost," I replied, and his temper almost immediately flared up.

"I have not yet lost," he snapped. "I will not allow you mortals to defeat me!"

"Well I'm sitting right here and I'm pretty sure that you have yet to defeat me O Wise One," I pointed out.

"You dare mock me?" he practically hissed. "I am-"

"A god- yes, we get it," interrupted. "But where I'm from you're a fictional villain, and the bad thing about being a fictional villain is that you always lose."

Except if you're from a horror movie or even sometimes a comedy, then you might win.

"So you're saying I should give up?" He said the last two words that they were the most disgusting things in the world.

"You can't give up when you've already lost," I replied and turned to look out of the window. "So perhaps now would be a good moment to get that drink?"

Surprise flashed across his eyes, but he begrudgingly nodded.

So when the time came for the Avengers to arrive in the tower all gung-ho style with weapons aimed at the god, they were surprised to find us both propped against the counter – both with glasses in our hands. Now obviously they could be thinking of any number of things when they came upon this so I quickly ended all doubts with a sentence.

"Time flies when you're having rum."


	12. Chapter 12

I would have been lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. The whole helping the Avengers as they stopped the world being taken over by aliens- even if it was only a small part (AKA blasting Loki off the tower and then playing prison guard- not that he needed guarding, he wasn't going anywhere).

Plus afterwards we got shawarma.

I nearly did go absolutely fangirl-y when Tony invited me to come along, even more so when we are sitting around the table enjoying some shawarma. I'd never had it before but someone had told me it as basically a kebab wrapped in a tortilla, and when I told Tony that he was even more determined to get some.

But he was outraged when I told him I'd never had a kebab before.

"How can you never have had a kebab before?" he asked, as if offended by the very idea of it. "Don't you have kebabs in Britain?"

We were currently sitting at the table, waiting for our order and Tony would not give up on this conversation.

"Yes we do, they just never appealed to me," I said, trying to work out the odds of actually kicking Tony and not Bruce by mistake- that would be bad.

Just to clarify I was sitting between Bruce and Clint, Tony was on the other side of Bruce so it mad him very hard to kick. But then again I could probably just ask Thor too seeing as he was on the other side of the annoying billionaire.

"Well I don't care if it's appealing or not you are going to try kebabs," he said, like a parent telling their child that they have to eat their veggies.

"Of course," I said in boredom, knowing it was probably best not to deny the playboy this one thing- besides, if he was paying…

"What are these kebabs you speak of?" asked Thor curiously.

"They're like shawarma without the tortilla," Tony replied, chuckling to himself. "So how was your boring life before you came here?"

"Well for starters there wasn't an annoying ass interrogating me," I said, some of the others trying to bite back a smile.

"I'm just trying to get to know you better," he said in a mock offended way, and part of me was wondering how long it would take before mock offended became actual offended. "You can't blame me for trying."

Not that I was actually trying to offend him, I just wanted him to shut up.

"I can," I countered.

"And before all this you were berating us for not getting on." He tutted, shaking his had slightly. "Such a hypocrite."

"No –you lot had to get along because you're supposed to be a team," I pointed out.

"You're part of the team- you can be the mascot." He grinned widely as I glared at him- hell no was I a mascot. "We can make you a neat little outfit and everything."

There was a pause.

"You sounded so gay just then."

That actually had people laughing. Whether at my comment or the fact that Tony had lost his cool and was actually offended by such a suggestion I didn't know.

But still- score.

"I'm not gay!" he protested, amidst laughter and someone- I won't say who (Birdy)- saying 'sure you're not'. "Do you know nothing about me? Have you seen how many women I've slept with?!"

I was going to point out that I'd only accused him of _sounding_ gay, but this was too funny to let go, and the fact that Steve had become uncomfortable at the change in topic was worth it.

"That's called denial."

That wasn't me by the way, that was Hawkeye, who apparently had the same idea as me. Plus there was the fact that he hadn't gotten the full speech from me.

"I'm not in denial!"

"Can we stop talking about this please?" asked Steve, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Does this conversation make you uncomfortable?" Thor asked Steve.

"Then why are you getting so worked up about it?" I asked him, just as a man brought over our orders.

"How would you like it if someone called you a lesbian?" Tony asked.

""How do you know I'm not?" I countered.

Again there was a pause, as they all looked at me.

"Are you?"

"No- where's the fun in sex there." I had to resist the urge to laugh because some of their reactions were priceless.

Nat was just plain ignoring us, Tony and Clint were a cross between amused and surprised whilst the other four looked varying degrees of uncomfortable.

I think it was the most fun I'd had since I'd been here, just sitting around with the Avengers, eating shawarma and teasing each other. It made me feel so happy, as I imagined this is what it might be in Mary-Sue land.

I'm not saying I want to be a Mary-Sue, but compared to what actually happened that would have been a walk in the park and I wouldn't have had to put up with Tony's annoying behaviour. Although I suppose this wasn't actually a Mary-Sue moment because I wasn't BFF's with the Avengers and I sure as hell did not feel sympathetic for Loki.

Okay, maybe a little.

Anyway, the day ended with me being escorted back to SHIELD and stuck in the interrogation room with Fury.

Seem familiar?

"I do remember specifically saying that you were not authorised to leave the ship," were the first words out of his mouth. "Although you were not to blame for that particular event so I suppose I can let it slide."

"Thank you?" I said, unsure whether that was a good thing or not. Plus I was kind of annoyed with him because he said that.

"Agent Coulson brought me up to date on those events," he continued. "From what I can ascertain I'm assuming that Coulson's death was the one that was supposed to e the push they needed."

I nodded, unsure about where this was going.

"The Avengers were able to figure out that one as well after I'd reported what had happened, the idea of that alone was enough of a push for them and as you noticed they finally got into gear."

I didn't bother pointing out that he had been bitching with them as well, so he was one to talk.

"Thank you."

I mean he was- wait, what?

"Judging from the circumstances, we are able to verify that you are not a threat and will be able to return home tomorrow when Thor transports Loki and the Tesseract. Until then-"

"I can go home?" I interrupted, ignoring his annoyed look out of sheer surprise. "How?"

"The Tesseract is a door to the other side and doors open from both sides," he explained a line I knew he'd stolen from Barton. "Thor has told us that you should be able to go home as long as you remember where you left."

So it was like Dorothy's way? Just imagine your home and click your heels together three times?

"So I can go home?" I repeated, and he nodded in annoyance.

"You'll leave tomorrow afternoon," he repeated. The way he said it made it sound like an order and I knew then that he didn't want me to stay.

I didn't blame him, I mean I had literally barged into their lives and told them that with us they're fictional characters. If it were me I'd get rid of the person who told me that because they would be a reminder of that and I wouldn't want that.

But still, it still hurt that he was so eager to get rid of me- and I wondered how many of the others felt that way?

"Agents Barton and Romanoff will escort you to the designated area tomorrow, until then I suggest you get some rest." With that he let, leaving me in the room as I still tried to process the fact that I was going home tomorrow.

I mean I felt somewhat happy because I was homesick, I missed my friends and family- heck, I even missed my job (Not that I'd probably have it when I get back) and tomorrow I would be back to my normal everyday life.

But did I want to go back for good?


	13. Chapter 13

Today was the day. I was going home.

We were getting some odd looks as we stood around, most of us in casual clothing- with the exception of Stark in his suit and the two Asgardians. Loki was bound and gagged, a dead expression on his face, watching as they placed the Tesseract in a container.

"So you'll be leaving to, ma'am?" asked Steve, standing next to me as we both watched as well. "I can't say I blame you- I'd leave if I could."

I had a feeling he was talking about going back to his own time, and sure enough I looked across to see him having a flashback.

"Well I wasn't exactly given a choice," I replied, feeling obligated to point that out. "Plus knowing me when I get back I'll probably want to come back here."

"Even after all that's happened?" he questioned, raising a eyebrow. "I thought you'd be glad of some normal."

"But it would be boring," I pointed out. "At least stuff actually happens here."

"We are ready to depart, Miss Attwater," said Thor, walking over to Loki with the case in his hand.

"I guess this is goodbye then," said Steve, holding out his hand for me to shake. "It was a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Cap," I replied with a smile.

Black Widow surprised me by saying a quick goodbye as well, Hawkeye as well, though Tony surprised me most of all with a hug.

"I'm gonna miss having you around, crazy chick," he said, then whispered in my ear so quietly I almost missed it; "Check your pocket when you get back."

"Well I'm not gonna miss you," I replied, wondering what that was about.

"Yes you will."

He then walked- strutted- away nonchalantly, getting suspicious looks from the two agents. Bruce came over and shook my hand as well, smiling kindly.

"Well goodbye then, Jess," he said, adding with a chuckle; "Feel free to drop by anytime."

"Bye Bruce."

With that I turned my back on them, walking over to where Thor and Loki stood. Both of them were holding ends of the container, so I decided to take Loki's side and offered the god a grin in return for a glare.

"So how does this work?" I asked, looking suspiciously at the blue cube.

"Just think where you want to go," Thor replied, looking between me and Loki before twisting the handle on the case.

For a moment nothing happened, but then everything started to glow brightly and the world faded from view.

/

When the view came back, I was both surprised and embarrassed to find that we had appeared exactly where I had left.

In my bedroom.

I let go of the case as I looked over the familiar surroundings, feeling the sense of comfort that came with it.

"So these are your chambers?" asked Thor, looking over at a poster of the Avengers that hung up. "It seems you were not lying after all."

"Isn't that something," I agreed with a sigh, not failing to notice Loki's eyes wandering over to a poster of himself. "I guess you'll be taking Loki back now?"

Thor nodded, tearing his gaze away from the poster and switching hands as to offer his closest one to me in a gesture I was sure I remembered. Sure enough he lifted my hand up to his mouth and placed a kiss on it.

"It has been an honour, Miss Attwater," he said. "It is a shame we must part ways, for you would have made an excellent warrior given the chance."

"Um, thanks?" I replied, then looked over to Loki. "Goodbye to you both then."

I didn't get a chance to see his reaction. Thor twisted the handle again and blue light rushed past them covering them before fading with their forms and leaving me all alone.

For a few moments I could do nothing but stare at the spot where they had left, unable to believe that it was all over- just like that. Now everything was supposed to go back to normal? Was I supposed to pretend that this never happened?

With a start I reached into both of the pockets in my jeans. In the left one I pulled out the small dagger that Loki had stabbed me with- I forgot I had that almost- and in the left one.

"Tony you ass."

I don't know how he got it, but – after I'd unfolded it- I found myself looking down at a photograph. One of all of us at the shawarma restaurant, sitting around and laughing.

I didn't think Tony knew about such primitive things.

Flipping it over, I read the message that Tony had scrawled across the back.

_I thought you'd like this to remind you of the day you chose your boring old life instead of this one with your favourite ass (Plus the others). Tony._

He'd obviously meant it as a joke, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret as I looked over at the picture again. Had I made the wrong choice? Should I have fought for my right to stay? Would it have been better for me if I had chosen to stay with them and led a life in a world full of superheroes?

But as I allowed a small smile to cross my face, I told myself that at least I'd had the chance to lead a life of adventure with my favourite superheroes and I'd had the chance to take their future into my hands.

THE END

**A/N: Thank you to all those who read and reviewed this, your reviews kept me motivated in writing this. ^-^**

**For those of you who don't want this to be the end then don't worry, I have already planned a sequel in my head and will get down to writing it up ASAP. The title will be One More Song and will feature the return of a certain Mr Whiskers ;)**

**Also, regarding a minor plot issue. There is now a poll up on my profile that I would really appreciate if you could vote on. It's about whether or not my OC should be paired anyone (A question I have been juggling in my mind for a while) so if you are a definite no or yes then you'd better get voting.**

**For those who don't have me on authors alert fear not, I will post a note up on this story when the sequel is published.**

**Thanks again and see you in the sequel.**


	14. Sequel

**A/N: The sequel is now up people, under the title of One More Song as I stated in the previous chapter.**

**Once again can I remind you to vote on the poll please, I've had a few votes so far as of yet no leading answer.**

**Thank you- KF.**


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